Submit comments on The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act!

Words to Know 

Department of Labor (DOL) – The part of the government that is in charge of WIOA. 

Dislocated workers – People who need to find a new job. Dislocated workers don’t have a job for reasons that are not their fault.

Employment Barrier – Things that make it hard to get jobs or work.

Finalize – When the government adds a proposed rule to a law. The new rule changes how the law works.

Proposed rule – An idea or draft of a rule. The government decides if a proposed rule will become part of the law or not.

Public comments – A way for people to share ideas with the government. Public comments let the government know what everyday people think about a rule or law. 

Public comment periods – The time that people can send public comments. 

Sources – Proof that shows what you are saying is true. Things like research papers and news reports are kinds of sources.

Title – Different parts of WIOA. Each title talks about a different WIOA program.

Rule – A part of a law that the government decides after the law gets passed. Members of government can change rules even after a law has been the same for a long time.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) – A law in the United States. WIOA makes programs that help people find, train for, and keep good jobs.

What is WIOA?

WIOA is short for The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. WIOA is a law about jobs. WIOA makes programs that help people find, train for, and keep good jobs. 

WIOA tries to make it easier for people to find and keep jobs. WIOA was made to help more people get jobs who usually have trouble getting work. People who have trouble getting work face employment barriers. Employment barriers are things that make it hard to get work.

For example:

Dorothy does not have a home. She wants to work, and can do many jobs well. She has a lot of job experience. But Dorothy faces employment barriers because she is homeless.

Dorothy applies for a job.The job application asks for her address. She writes down the address of her homeless shelter. 

The workplace Dorothy applied for sees that she lives at a homeless shelter. They do not like that Dorothy is homeless. The workplace decides to not give Dorothy a job. They don’t even give her a chance to do a job interview. 

WIOA has a list of employment barriers. The goal of WIOA is to help people who face these barriers. WIOA programs try to help them get jobs.

There are different parts of WIOA. These parts are called titles. Each title talks about a different WIOA program.

For example:

WIOA Title I is about job programs for adults, youth, and dislocated workers. Dislocated workers are people who need to find a new job. Dislocated workers don’t have a job for reasons that are not their fault. Some types of dislocated workers are: 

• Poor people who can’t do the work they did before. For example:
  

Sandra worked at a factory that made public phone booths. Most towns do not have public phone booths on the street anymore. Sandra only knows how to make phone booths. She needs help learning skills to get a different factory job. Sandra is a dislocated worker.

• People who don’t have a job for reasons that are not their fault. For example:
  

The Bee Factory loses all its money, so they fire all of their workers. The old Bee Factory workers are now dislocated workers.

• People who want to find a job after taking care of a family member for free. For example: 

Brielle’s mom is sick, and Brielle cares for her mom. She does this in her mom’s house. Brielle does not get paid for taking care of her mom.

Brielle’s mom dies. Brielle spends some time focusing on missing her mom. Then, Brielle looks for paid work. Brielle is a dislocated worker.

What does WIOA Title I do?

WIOA Title I does lots of things. Two big things it does are career and training services.

Career services work with people who come to get help finding a job. These services look at what skills people can already do. Then, career services looks at what jobs use those skills. Career services can help people figure out jobs that they can do well.

Career services give people information about jobs. They explain what it’s like to look for work in their area. Career services help people look for jobs.

These services also do lots of other things. They can help people make a plan for work. They can help people learn about how money works. 

Training services help people get ready to work. They can help people learn how to work at their job. They can teach skills about working. They can help people get skills needed to work.

For example:

Rhonda wants to be a cashier at her local supermarket. But Rhonda did not finish high school. She did not learn how to do the math she needs to be a cashier.

The training services under WIOA Title I help Rhonda learn how to do math. The training services show her how to work a cash register too.

Rhonda applies for a job at the supermarket. The supermarket  asks her to show them she can help check out customers the right way. Since Rhonda has practiced, she shows them she can do math and use the cash register. Rhonda gets the job at the supermarket.

All these WIOA services are run through programs at American Job Centers.

What is happening right now with WIOA Title I?

The Department of Labor (DOL) is the part of the government that is in charge of WIOA. Right now, DOL is thinking of making a rule about WIOA Title I. A rule is a part of a law that the government decides after the law gets passed. Members of government can change rules even after a law has been the same for a long time.

On July 1st, 2025, the DOL put out a proposed rule. A proposed rule is an idea or draft of a rule. That means people don’t have to follow the rule yet. DOL will decide if the proposed rule will become part of the law or not.

ASAN does not like the proposed rule for WIOA Title I. We must tell the DOL that we do not want them to finalize the new rule. Finalizing means that the rule would become part of WIOA.

What does the DOL’s proposed rule say about WIOA Title I?

The proposed rule would get rid of a different rule in WIOA Title I. This rule was made in 2016. The 2016 rule is about programs who get money from WIOA Title I. The 2016 rule says these programs need to make sure everyone can use them.

The 2016 rule says WIOA Title I programs need to reach out to people who face employment barriers. This means people like:

• people with disabilities, 
• people of color, 
• people in different age groups, 
• and more.

The 2016 rule says WIOA programs must talk with people who face employment barriers. They must teach people about how WIOA Title I can help them. Taking away the 2016 rule is bad. It will hurt people with disabilities.

How will DOL’s proposed rule about WIOA Title I hurt people? How will it hurt disabled people?

If WIOA Title I programs reached out to fewer people, it would hurt WIOA Title I programs. It means fewer people facing employment barriers will get work.

Disabled people have many employment barriers. It would be bad if WIOA Title I programs stopped reaching out to disabled people. It means fewer disabled people would know the programs exist. It means the programs would not help as many disabled people.

This rule would hurt a lot of kinds of people. It would let employment barriers continue in career and training services. It would mean less people facing employment barriers will get hired.

Changing WIOA’s rules would make it harder to get the kind of training that lets disabled people get jobs. Changing WIOA would mean less disabled workers get the chance to work.

How can I tell the DOL what I think about the proposed rule?

The DOL wants to know what people think of their proposed rule. The DOL is asking for public comments on the proposed rule. Public comments are a way for people to share ideas with the government. Public comments let the government know what everyday people think about a rule or law. 

People in the government have to read the public comments. Then, they decide whether or not to finalize the rule. They also decide if they will make more changes to the rule before people have to start following the rule.

Anyone can write a public comment. The government asks for public comments to try to hear everyone’s opinions. You do not need to be an expert to write a comment. 

Usually, everyday people don’t send in public comments. Sending in a public comment can be confusing. But sending in a public comment is important. The government needs to hear from people it doesn’t usually hear from. 

For example, the government doesn’t usually hear from self-advocates. The government needs to hear from self-advocates. That is how the government can make policies that help us. We hope you will send in a public comment! 

People only have a short time to make public comments. This is called a public comment period. Public comment periods are the time that people can send public comments. The public comment period for the DOL’s proposed rule will end after July 31st, 2025. This means that no one can send a public comment to the DOL about the WIOA rules after July 31st, 2025.

Public comments need to be unique. That means your comment needs to be different from everyone else’s. That’s because the DOL will only read unique public comments. That means if two people send the same comment, the DOL will only read it once. Even though they are 2 comments, the DOL will act like they are only 1 comment.

Here are some other tips for writing your public comment:

• Write 1000 words or less for your comment. The DOL might not read more than the first 1000 words.
• Do not put private information about your life in your comment. Do not write your address or other contact information. Do not send pictures or videos.
• Try to add personal details about why WIOA Title I matters to you. Talk about why it is important to you that WIOA Title I programs reach out to people with disabilities. That will help people working for the government to remember your story.
• Only send in a comment you write yourself. You can start from ASAN’s template, but you need to change it to be your own words.
• You won’t hear anything back from the DOL when you send your comment. You might not hear back from the DOL at all. But the DOL will still read your public comment. 

What should I write in my public comment?

• You can say that you do not support the DOL’s proposed rule about WIOA Title I
• You can talk about your experience as a disabled person with work
• You can talk about the the employment barriers you face 

If you’re someone who faces employment barriers and you did not know about WIOA Title I:

• You can share your experience looking for work
• You can say that someone telling you about WIOA Title I programs would help you

If you’ve gotten help through WIOA Title I (American Job Centers), you can also say:

• If those services helped you get a job
• If you found about about these services because someone told you about the program

How do I send in my public comment to the Department of Labor?

To send in your public comment to the Department of Labor, follow these steps: 

• Click this website link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/01/2025-11845/rescission-of-affirmative-outreach-requirements-for-recipients-of-wioa-title-i-financial-assistance#open-comment. This will take you to the Federal Register website. The Federal Register website is the website the government uses to collect public comments.
  
  Every rule on the Federal Register gets a number. The number for the WIOA Title I proposed rule is RIN # is 1291-AA47.

• Type your comment where the page says “Start typing comment here”.
  • It is a good idea to type your comment somewhere you can save it. Then, you can copy and paste it into the space that says “Start typing your comment here”. For example, you could write your comment in a Word document. That way, your comment will not be lost if something happens to the website or your internet.

• If you want to attach files to your comment, you can. You do not have to attach files. Some people add files with links to sources that back up the things they say in their comments. Sources are proof that shows what you are saying is true. Things like research papers and news reports are kinds of sources.

• You can type your email address in the space on the page that says “email address”. You do not have to type your email address. You can type your email address if you want to get an email that tells you when the DOL gets your comment.

• Choose how you want to send in your comment. You can click on one of the three squares under the text that says “Tell us about yourself! I am…”.
  
  • The first square says “an individual”. You should pick the first square if you are writing your comment as yourself. If you pick the first square, a section on the page will pop up that says “contact information”. You will have to type your first name and last name. You can also type the other information the “contact information” section gives you space to type. But you do not have to type this other information if you don’t want to.
    
  • The second square says “an organization”. You should pick the second square if you are writing your comment for an organization you are a part of. For example, if your self-advocacy group asked you to submit a public comment for them.
    
    If you pick the second square, a section on the page will pop up that says “Your organization information”. Click on the text that says “Select an Organization Type”. Click on one of the options from the menu that pops up. If you are not sure which option to pick, you can just pick “Organization”. Then, type the name of your organization in the space that says “Organization name”.
    
  • The third square says “anonymous”. You can pick this option if you do not want anyone to see your name next to your comment. 

• Click the box next to the text that says “I’m not a robot”. 

• Click the blue button that says “Submit Comment”.

If the button looks like this, that means you have not answered all of the questions you need to answer. 

Go back to the top of the page. Make sure you have typed something in every box with a red asterisk next to it. The red asterisk looks like this:

*

If the button looks like this, that means you have answered all of the questions you need to answer. 

Now, you can send in your comments by clicking this button. Great job!

We know that sending in public comments is not accessible for a lot of people. But sending in comments online is the only way the government accepts comments right now. If you have trouble sending in your comment, email Jules Good, State Advocacy Manager at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, at [email protected] . We will do our best to help you send in your comment.